Ghazni offensive

The Ghazni offensive began on 10 August 2018, when Taliban fighters launched an assault on the city of Ghazni, Afghanistan's sixth largest city and one which has been culturally and strategically important for much of the country's history. The attack resulted in the deaths of hundreds of insurgents, soldiers, police, and civilians. The city also sustained large-scale property damage. The battle, occurring only weeks before Afghanistan's 2018 parliamentary election, was the largest since a three-day truce in June had raised hopes of peace talks.

The battle was part of a larger coordinated offensive by the Taliban which allowed the Taliban to capture several government bases and districts and killed hundreds of Afghan soldiers and police.

The security situation in Ghazni city and Ghazni Province rapidly deteriorated during 2017 and early 2018. In the months prior to the battle, there were numerous reports of increasing Taliban insurgency activity in the city and in the districts of Ghazni Province. Classic insurgency tactics such as attacks on local government employees, forced taxation of the local population and the setting up of roadblocks by insurgent fighters were all reported. During May and June 2018, the Taliban cut Highway 1 (which links Kabul and Kandahar, Afghanistan's largest cities) and the Taliban forced users of the road to pay a tax in order to use it. Other reports indicated that by May 2018, the Taliban were said to "control the road network into the city ... live openly in one neighborhood, collect taxes, assassinate security personnel and government officials, and enforce its harsh brand of Islamic law." The Taliban were also openly transporting their weapons inside the city. Locals officials believe that the security personnel guarding Ghazni's perimeter granted the Taliban free entry to the city.

Afghan government and Allied forces

The Taliban began a large-scale attack on the city just after mid-night on 10 August 2018. The fighting erupted in seven neighborhoods of Ghazni, including three pockets within 0.5 mi (0.80 km) of the Governor's residence. Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, stated on Twitter that "hundreds of Mujahedeen entered the city, captured the police headquarters and all six police districts and an important military base, Bala Hesar". Government officials denied that the city was at risk of falling, but they conceded that the insurgents had fought to within 300 yd (270 m) of the Governor's office and police headquarters before being pushed back. During the assault, the Taliban managed to destroy cellphone towers, effectively cutting off communication to the city. They also destroyed a bridge which made it more difficult for the government to send reinforcements.

On 11 August, Afghan Armed Forces reinforcements have arrived in Ghazni but fighting continued with Taliban fighters taking refuge in people's homes. U.S. army special force unit: Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) team 1333 also arrived in the Ghazni city to save it from the Taliban siege. The Taliban claimed to have taken control of the main prison of the city, releasing everyone inside. Government radio and television were forced off the air because their employees fled, and only Radio Shariat, a Taliban station, continued broadcasting. The Afghan Government and their international allies continued to state that they remained in control of the city despite the fact that the Taliban were still in the city, and had set up checkpoints with a provincial councilman from Ghazni claiming 70 percent of the city was under Taliban control.

The United States Air Force carried out 24 anti-Taliban air strikes between 10 and 12 August. However, after three days of fighting, the Taliban were still reportedly in control of most of the city. Wais Barmak, the country's Minister of Interior, claimed that in one airstrike on 12 August, 50 Taliban soldiers were killed.

On 12 August, a lawmaker from Ghazni said that "only the Governor's office, police headquarters and intelligence agency's compound are in the hands of the Government and Taliban are pushing to take them". The Taliban claimed to have seized the old Ghazni airbase and most parts of the city. A reinforcement convoy of Afghan forces was ambushed as it made its way from neighboring Paktia province to Ghazni. Considering the difficulty of retaking all parts of the city, the United States sent military advisers to aid the Afghan forces. The insurgents also began spreading into districts outside Ghazni city, two of which fell to them overnight, according to reports from local residents and Afghan officials. In Ghazni city, a member of the provincial council stated that "heavy fighting [was] ongoing around the Governor's office, the Police Headquarters and the compound of the intelligence agency". He added that "the reinforcements have not done anything effective, all they have done is establish a base for themselves." Farid Ahmad Mashal, Ghazni's police chief, claimed that "reinforcements, including American troops, were beginning to clear the Taliban from the city". The Government in Kabul and the army continued to insist that they were in full control of Ghazni.